Hello and welcome, my friends! I’m super excited for today’s post, because I’m interviewing my friend, Chelsea, for Project Inspire. She blogs at An Ordinary Pen; don’t forget to go check out her website!
If you haven’t heard about the mission/blog tag I started, you can check it out here. Basically, it’s a tag to spread inspiration, motivation, and appreciation for the people that have been influential in our writing lives. š
I’m going to be asking Chelsea questions all about inspiration, motivation, and other things related those subjects. I’ll be in bold, while she will be in italics.
So, without further ado…
First, tell us a bit about yourself, Chelsea. š
First of all, thank you so much for inviting me to your blog, Jen! I really appreciate it š
Hello! Iām Chelsea R.H., Iām an eighteen year old novelist and blogger from the fair land of Australia. I have many fascinations and hobbies, including, but definitely not limited to, musicals, dancing (Highland and Tap, in case you were wondering), calligraphy, reading (of course), history, knitting, sewing, and hiking. I love spending time in the great outdoors, and I enjoy not going to parties š
01. How/where do you find the most inspiration to create?
I know itās a cliche to say it, but I find inspiration everywhere. However, if Iām only going to pick a few things that inspire me, I would say that settings inspire me the most, followed by books, movies, and Pinterest. A lot of the time, interview questions will ask whether my personal process involves plot or characters first, but almost always Iām inspired by a setting. Sometimes the setting will be a place where Iāve been, other times it will be a picture in an atlas, or on Pinterest, but they almost always manage to inspire me.
And then, of course, thereās books and movies. I actually take less inspiration from these than I used to, but sometimes a small plot twist in a favourite novel, or a turn of phrase or character from a movie or TV show will inspire something in my own novels.
And Pinterestā¦need I say more?
02. What’s your favorite inspirational Bible verse or quote?
This is a really hard one! Thereās a lot of really great Bible versesā¦
Well, I really like Chapter 35 of Isaiah. Itās too long to put in here, but itās a great chapter full of hope and beautiful imagery. I love the sound of āthe desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocusā and āthe burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of waterā. Itās just beautiful.
03. Who’s been really influential in your writing, and never given up on you?
My whole family really. I think they roll their eyes at me sometimes and itās probably a good thing theyāll never (hopefully) see my search terms, but theyāve never given up on me (my sanity maybe, but never me).
04. What do you do when you’re feeling down and uninspired to get motivated again?
Ideally, Iād love to be able to go hiking in the wilderness every time I felt unmotivated, but since that isnāt possible, I tend to take a break and read a book, or glower at the computer screen, or look through a book of pretty landscapes.
05. When youāre battling through the middle of your book, what do you do to stay motivated?
Think about all the wonderful things Iāll buy (like chocolate!) as soon as Iāve finished. Reread my favourite scenes. Reread my outline and pick out the bits that Iāll really enjoy writing and motivate myself to get to them. Listen to one of my many soundtracks to give myself a boost.
06. What’re 5 big things you’ve learned about writing over the years?
- There is always going to be someone whoās a better writer than you, and thatās completely okay.
- Not everything you write should be for public eyes, some of it should be treasured by you only
- Donāt write flat villains.
- Study character arcs
- Learn how to outline. Even if you never use your outlining skills, I still think itās valuable to learn the structure of story and outlining is a great way to do that.
07. Is there a book/author that has inspired you to write better and craft stronger stories?
Every book I read inspires me in some way or another. Sometimes, itās by making me so angry that I know I just have to write better books than this one. Sometimes its by inspiring me to write as story as good as this one.
But if I have to answer this directly, Iāll say J.R.R.Tolkien.
09. What advice do you have for other young writers?
Practice doesnāt make perfect, but it definitely does make better. Just keep writing, keep trying, keep improving your craft, keep surrendering yourself to Godās will. Youāll get better š
10. Anything else to add? {about inspiration, motivation, appreciation, etc.}
When you dedicate your life to writing, take extra special care of your physical health. Itās very important, even you donāt realise it just yet. Take a dance class, or go to the gym, go hiking, anything to keep your body healthy.
And hey, maybe youāll find some inspiration while taking your exercise as well š
Thank you so much for having me, Jen!
And thanks so so much for agreeing to let me interview you, Chelsea! It really was a lot of fun and such a pleasure. š
Until next time…
Write on,
9 Comments
This was a fun post Jenna!
Thank you, Iām glad you liked it! š
Project Inspire is such a neat thing youāre doing, Jenna! Hey Chelsea! *waves* Nice to get to know you better!!
Thanks! I plan on doing more posts and such for it in the future. š
This was so cool, and Project Inspire is such an awesome idea! š
Thank you! I really enjoyed interviewing Chelsea. š
This was a fun interview! Project Inspire was a really inspired project, Jenna! xD
It was fun to do! šThank you!
[…] I am super excited for today’s post! It’s the second interview of an inspiring blogger/writer forĀ Project Inspire. To check out the first P.I. interview with Chelsea R. H., just clickĀ HERE. […]